Drinking a big bowl of tea culture

Editor’s foreword: "Looking China" International Youth Film Project is co-organized by the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture (AICCC), Beijing Normal University and Huilin Foundation, which aims to showcase the contrasting simplicity and glamour, the antiquity and fashion of China through unique perspectives of young foreign film makers.

As of the year 2016, 101 students from 25 countries were invited to participate in the project. They were stationed in 13 municipality, provinces and autonomous regions here in China. Every filmmaker has worked out a 10-minute short film about Chinese culture around the topic of “ethnic minority”.

The film, ‘Explore the taste of the big bowl,’ captures the hustle and bustle of life in Beijing and how tea helps residents stay calm. The video begins with haunting music, showing footage of crowded streets near Tiananmen Square and subway stations.

It transits to a more serene video when depicting tea shops in Beijing where hostesses describe the different types of tea and its health benefits. Then it moves on to Beijing’s most popular tea shop that serves a steaming hot bowl of tea for customers at a very low price.

Customers from all over China and the world come to taste the bowls of tea. The owner discloses that he loses money serving so many bowls of tea in Qianmen Square, Beijing.

Nevertheless, he and his employees remain active to promote China’s tea culture. The shop also sells more expensive items of tea and silverware, along with books and videos that teach visitors how to enjoy the tea life.

China is famous for many things, such as shadow puppets, Shaolin kung fu monks, Peking Opera and so much more. But tea tops the list as a wonderment of the nation’s rich culture.

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